The study of the prevalence of articular syndrome and pathology of the musculoskeletal system through a telephone questionnaire survey

Aim. To establish the prevalence of complaints of joint swelling and arthralgia among the population of Smolensk city, to assess their correlation with the presence of rheumatic diseases.Methods. A cross-sectional telephone questionnaire survey of residents of six therapeutic districts of two municipal polyclinics of Smolensk city was conducted. Interviewed were 2737 people (64.8% females and 35.2% males). The average age of respondents was 49.1±17.6 years.Results. Swelling of the joints at the time of the survey was revealed in 665 (24.3%) of respondents, in the majority of which (583 people, 21.3%) the symptoms persisted for more than the last 12 months. Pain in the knee joints was observed in 1141 (41.7%) residents, including arthralgia lasting more than a year - in 1012 (37.0%) people. The relationship between both of the symptoms and the gender (the predominance of women) and age (an increasing linear nature of the frequency of complaints in males and non-linear with a peak in the group of 70-80-year-olds - in females) was revealed. It was established that only 41.3% of respondents with joints swelling and 30.9% with arthralgia had a previously established diagnosis of rheumatic disease.Conclusion. The study results suggest that there is high prevalence of rheumatic complaints among residents of Smolensk city with a predominance of articular disease in women and individuals of older age groups; revealed was the fact of low awareness of the population of the existing rheumatic disease.